Iron Man came out on May 2^nd, 2008, which was 15 years ago. It also was the launch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. To date the MCU has 32 movie, 8 shows, and 2 special presentations with more to come. It has had 4 phases. Its currently in Phase 5. Phase 6 will be on its way within the next year or so. Iron Man was a huge success. Avengers: Endgame is their biggest movie making over 850 million domestically alone. Worldwide, it made over 2 billion. Black Panther is the biggest solo movie achieving over 700 million domestically and hitting over 1 billion worldwide. The Incredible Hulk is the lowest movie earning over 134 million domestically. It beat 2003’s Hulk by a small margin. Marvel’s lowest grossing movie has beaten tons of other movies from other studios. It is quite an accomplishment that all of Marvel’s movies have achieved over 100 million even during the Pandemic. Black Widow was still able to make over 180 million domestically even though it was on Disney Plus at the same time. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings soared even higher, making over 200 million. Eternals made over 160 million. Spider-Man: No Way Home broke records achieving over 800 million domestically and is the only Marvel movie since Covid to make over 1 billion worldwide.

After dominating in the movie industry for years, the MCU branched out into television with limited series for Disney Plus. Loki is currently the only live show to get a second season which will be debuting in October. Wandavision saw the return of Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany from the movies as well as Kat Dennings and Randall Park reprising their fan favorite characters Darcy Lewis and Agent Jimmy Woo. Wandavision also introduced Teyonah Parris as grown up Monica Rambeau who will be in the upcoming movie The Marvels alongside Brie Larson as Captain Marvel and Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel. Wandavision also gave audiences a new fan favorite villain with Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness who will be getting her own series Agatha: Coven of Chaos. For the first time the shows were directly linked to the films and vice versa. Elizabeth Olsen reprised her role as Wanda Maximoff in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Ms. Marvel had a credit scene that had an appearance from Captain Marvel setting up the plot for The Marvels.

Besides the shows and movies, Marvel also introduced Special Presentations. Werewolf by Night and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special were well received. Werewolf by Night introduced monsters to the MCU. It was said there are plans for more monsters in the future. The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special was a fun adventure for the Guardians but also set up some things that carried through in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Marvel has given audiences many fan favorite moments. It established the credit scenes that are after every movie with the exception of The Incredible Hulk and Avengers: Endgame. Most have two while some have one or in the case of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, five. Marvel has given us great characters such as Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Doctor Strange, Nick Fury, Spider-Man, and many more. It has made household names out of lesser known characters such as Rocket, Groot, Nebula, Star-Lord, Drax, Gamora, and many others. Marvel has given us some really great villains such as Loki, Thanos, and The High Evolutionary.

The MCU keeps evolving and that is what it should do. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is out now and is one of the best Marvel movies in a few years. It is a lot darker than the prior films in the franchise. Secret Invasion is premiering on Disney Plus in June and looks to be a lot different than prior Marvel movies and shows. Werewolf by Night was completely different and was the first true horror special. Doctor Strange 2 had some horror elements but Werewolf by Night was full fledged horror. The MCU has been bold since the beginning. They are the first to have a successful cinematic universe. It’s because of Marvel that other studios have tried finding their own cinematic universes with varying degrees of success. Most have failed. The DCEU has had too many stumbling blocks and is getting relaunched as the DCU in the next few years. The Lego Universe had success early on which didn’t last. It’s too early to tell what the future holds. The Dark Universe was a flop from the start. It was supposed to be a monster universe with The Mummy, Dracula, The Wolfman, etc. Marvel has achieved so much in its 15 years. It is exciting to see what else Marvel will achieve in the next 15.